Slip sliding away: olive oil and sweet wine cake

Are you all ready for the end and the beginning, ragazzi?   Annalena here is certainly ready for the end, and not sure about the beginning.  She has a whole list of things that she needs to start doing , and end doing, comes 2013.  Either breathe a sigh of relief or groan in disappointment, the blog shall stay.  But one very well may see more tales, more healthy recipes, and so forth.

We shall not be going the healthy route today, bambini.  No, we are going to make a very easy cake, but one which will intrigue both you and your guests.

There is a large family of cakes, mostly from Italy and France, based on the use of olive oil as a fat, rather than butter.  And why not?  If the fat you have at hand is olive oil, and butter is too dear, well... Indeed, let us keep in mind that some of our favorite cakes - carrot, for example, are based on oil.  Undoubtedly somewhere, there is a cake based on duck fat, or goose fat.  Annalena, as the song goes "don't want to know."

Well, in exploring this repertoire, Annalena was looking for easy, complex and tasty.  Sort of like the way she likes her men.  Sort of.    This one won the competition.  Except she changed it.  See, the recipe did NOT call for sweet wine, which for Annalena was essential. So she changed the dry white to a sweet white. 

There is a subset of these olive oil cakes that are very much like fallen souffle cakes. This one is not like that.  And that's a good thing if you want to make this ahead of time.  What is also good about it, is that you don't need the food processor.  Nope, you can do this all in a bowl, using your hands.  You really can.

Here we go.  First, let's sift together about a cup and a half of all purpose flour, a quarter cup of cornmeal, 2 teaspoons of baking soda, and a big pinch of salt.  The cornmeal really adds to the color and texture of the cake.  Please do not leave it out.

Put that aside, and mix together a cup of sugar, and the zest of half an orange, and half a lemon  (use a full fruit of one if you prefer).  And now... chop up a teaspoon of rosemary, real fine.  Remember that you'll be adding a minty kind of back note to the cake, and you wont mind it.  Get this all together, and get your fingers in there, and rub things together to release the oils.  All of citrus peel, and rosemary, are loaded with oil.  They will flavor your sugar nicely. 

Let's start having fun now.  Make sure that sugar mixture is in a large bowl.  Start adding a half cup of olive oil.  Extra virgin? Sure.  Virgin?  Also fine.  "Pure". NO.  Absolutely not.  Think about the oil you use before you pour it in.  Those super tuscan peppery green ones that burn the back of your mouth are NOT the right choice.  You want something that's,well, "buttery."  Something that you would cook with, but wouldn't use to dress your vegetables.  Annalena used her McEvoy extra virgin, leaving her olio nuovo for another use.    Whisk this up.  You will get something resembling wet sand and begin to worry.  Pazienza.    Start mixing in two large eggs, and ... now you'll have eggy wet sand.  Worry not, because now, you're going to add half a cup of a sweet wine.  Annalena has seen this done with sauterne, with baume de Venise, and others.  She used a late harvest gewurztraminer from California that had oxidized a bit.    Use what you have.

NOW, you'll have something beginning to resemble cake batter.  And into that, stir your flour mixture.  Get this into a parchment paper lined, oiled 8 or 9 inch  cake pan, and get it into a 350 oven, for 30 - 40 minutes.

It browns up nicely, and has a beautiful crumb.  And since you have half the zest of two fruit left, why don't you make two?  It certainly didn't take you long.

There are olive oil ice creams out there, for the intrepid.  Forse....

Let the good times roulade: pumpkin roulade with mascarpone and ginger filling

Ragazzi, just about a week ago, Annalena posted a cookie recipe "for next year," because she was SURE all of you had your Christmas baking done.

Well, it has turned out to be one of her most popular recipes.  Braciole still outpolls everything, by about an 8:1 margin (Annalena has NO idea why this is the case.  Any thoughts?). 

But.. rather than begin digressing,  she thought that, given this situation, and that some of you will be entertaining for New Year's , she would share one of her Christmas desserts with you.  This one comes courtesy of one of her goddesses, Ina Garten. 

Annalena first made this recipe about six years ago, maybe longer.  And it was SO good... she has no idea why she didn't make it again.  Perhaps because there was a very good chance she would eat the whole thing.  Indeed, she loves everything that is in this dish, and as the evidence supplied, so did her and the Guyman's dinner guests.  Annalena's persimmon pudding was barely touched.  Her blueberry cranberry pie was left to serve as leftovers, but the roulade..... 

Oh well... who knows?  But this is a good recipe to have, and there are some really good, important techniques to be learned here, for making "roulade," which is also essentially "jelly roll."  You remember those, don't you?  So bad for you, and so good.  AH.... if she weren't eating Mexican food tonight

OOPS.   Digressing again.  Ok, here we go.  Please pay heed to the directions in this recipe.  They are important.  Your technique will matter, as will organization.

First, let's get the dry ingredients for our cake together.  You need 3/4 cup of flour, and combine it with half a teaspoon each of baking powder and soda, and  full teaspoons of ginger and cinnamon.  Add a touch of nutmeg, and a pinch of salt.  Put that all together.

Now, put to the side a clean dish towel, laid flat on a surface.  And sprinkle a hefty quarter cup of powdered sugar all over it.  We're going to come back to this, and it's ridiculously important.

Back to our cake.  Measure out a scant cup of pumpkin puree , either homemade or canned (it's half of a can.  So you have an excuse to make two of these),  and put it aside.  Measure a cup of granulated sugar, also to the side for now.  And, finally, put 3 extra large, or four large eggs, in a mixing bowl equipped with your paddle.  Put in the sugar.

Start beating the eggs and sugar  at a high speed, and let them go for a good five minutes.  What you are doing here, is essentially making the start of a genoise.  Your egg yolks are going to carry the air that meringue usually does.  And wait till you see how t his fluffs up, thick and yellow and gorgeous.  And while it's working, preheat your oven to 375.

Now, get a full sized cookie sheet (the one you normally use, NOT a jelly roll pan), and grease it.  Put down a sheet of parchment, and grease it too, and flour it.  NORMALLY , Annalena doesn't do this.  Do  it here.  You will be sorry if you don't.

Now, take those beaten eggs off of the mixer, and fold in the flour mixer with a spatula.  Work carefully, because it's not so easy to combine these.  Make sure you do not have unmixed powder in the bowl before you proceed (the eggs are so light that the flour does tend to settle to the bottom).

Pour and spoon this out onto your baking sheet, and spread it out as far as you can.  There isn't a lot of batter here, and you may not get to the corners.  It's fine.  Just get it spread as far as you can.

Put this in the oven, and bake for just twelve minutes.  Check after ten.  If you see the edges browning, stop the baking. 

Now, the part that is most challenging here.    If the cake is sticking to the edges of your sheet, loosen it with a small knife. Protect your hands,  and invert the thing over that dish towel.  Be brave ragazzi.  Tentativeness will not serve you, and it WILL come out (remember all that greasing?).    Remove the paper carefully.  Ok, now something fun.  Take the edges of the dish towel, and use them to roll the cake on itself.  Don't use your hands.  The cake is more than warm: it's HOT.  If you wait too long, this will crack horrifically (and if that happens,  you can use this cake to make trifle.  We will address this below).   You'll get four or five rolls in all.  Move this to a rack, and let it cool  completely.

Now for our filling.  You can use other ones, but Annalena DOES like the original, which calls for a pint of mascarpone (Italian cream cheese, so to speak, or as one writer put it, the tough New Jersey cousin of the Parisian creme fraiche.  Annalena does not accept that, but so what.  ), which you mix with a hefty cup of confectioner's sugar.  Again, the mixer and a CLEAN paddle will help.   When it's all incorporated, stir in a quarter to a third cup of candied ginger. 

Now, when the cake is cool, unroll it  on the baking sheet, or some other flat surface and spread the filling over it.  Get it as even as possible.  Roll it up again.  Here, you may use your fingers. 

It will be beautiful.  Except the edges will be ragged.  Cook's prize here, ragazzi.  Cut those pieces off and enjoy them.  Now refrigerate your cake.    And serve it forth.  A beautiful contrast, in orange brown, and  creamy white.

Now, if for some reason, you didn't get your cake right, cut it into small pieces.  Moisten it with some liquor, like amaretto, or some other spicy/nutty flavor you like, or ginger liqueur if you have it, and layer it in a bowl, alernately with that mascarpone filling.  A nice little trifle if you will.

You will see recipes like this one occasionally.  They have unfortunately fallen out of favor, but they are SO good.  So, look for them.  Key word:  roulade.  Put this one in your toy chest as "sponge cake training wheels," and thank Ina and Annalena for the new dessert.   Make it more than once

Well, maybe next year: vanilla cookies with baker's ammonia

It's almost upon us, is it not ragazzi?  Two more days.  Have you done your shopping?  Gotten up your tree? Planned your menu?  Or, should Annalena not be putting these questions to you because you are, well, at the end of frazzled.

Trust her, ragazzi. Annalena gets it.  She truly does.  If anyone can say "2012 was  not as tough on me as 2011 was," bravo to you, and tell us all how you did it.  Annalena just finished her  cookie baking today.  The beloved "sashas" came out of the oven at 11.  Now, she can turn to the mechanics of getting Christmas dinner on the table , and then the New Year's party, and then... rest, wonderful rest.

So, perhaps this is the wrong time to post, YET ANOTHER Christmas cookie, especially  since it calls for an ingredient you probably don't have (but Annalena knows where you can get it).  It is a cookie that is deceptively simply, and wonderfully good.  So, she recommends that, if you can't or won't do it this year, save this recipe and do it next year.  You will thank her.  Or, just make it as soon as you can.  The cookie is not particularly Christmassy, and who can't use a good Christmas cookie.

The mystery ingredient here, is baker's ammonia.  Also known as ammonium carbonate (which you should be able to get at the pharmacy.  You will have to ask for it.  It's a component of smelling salts).  It is also called salt of hartshorn, and for this reason, Annalena dedicates the column to Max.

See,  baker's ammonia is the old leavening agent used by Eastern Europeans, and Scandinavians. It predates baking powder, and baking soda, by hundreds of years.  "Salt of hartshorn," because it was oringally made, in a laborious process which involved extracting oil from the bones of deer. 

Now, Max:  Annalena suggests you not buy deer bones and get to work making  your own bakers ammonia.  But get some. All of you should.    And you might also put some of it in your regular cookie recipes.

And why is that?  Well,  the product results in a cookie that is so crisp: so SHATTERINGLY crisp, and so airy, you may wish to dispense with baking powder and baking soda all together.  Don't do that, but Annalena will tell you what to do, if you like it.

Today, the place the stuff is used, mostly, is in Ritz Crackers.  Putting aside issues of taste, or ingredients, if you like that texture, you will love these cookies.

Annalena has had several versions of this cookie around for a long, long time.  This year, she put them together, subtracted and added, and came up with what she thinks is a superior cookie.  You let her know, carini.

Let's get to work.  Preheat  your oven to 300 (this is one of the peculiarities of this leavening.  If you use too hot an oven, the stuff goes off, and you get no "lift.).    Get two sticks of butter,  either salted or un, depending on how you like your cookies,  at room temperature, into a bowl.  And get the best butter you can, because the taste of the butter is going to shine out here.  Add a cup and a quarter of granulated sugar and, if you're not using salted butter, a teaspoon of salt.    Also, squeeze in the juice of one, very large lime.  (this is where Annalena changed the recipes she has).  Mix all of these together.  Now add 2 cups of flour and a scant, quarter teaspoon of the baker's ammonia.  Stir all of this together, and mix it until you get a large clump of dough.

Break off lumps, about the size of a small walnut , and put them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper  .  If you like (Annalena does not), you can roll them in granulated sugar or that wonderful ingredient, sparkling sugar, or even pearl sugar, before you put them in the oven.  They will spread a bit, so on a standard sheet, let's say no more than 24 of them.

You have to bake them for about 30 minutes.  Again, this is a result of the leaven.  It takes its time.  But if, like Max, you just spent upwards of two days making a pudding, 30 minutes is a spring.  DO check on them, because  with cookie making, much is imprecise.  If you used amounts that are smaller than the recipe, or than what Annalena did, yours will cook in a shorter period of time.  Look for browning on the edges.

The cookies will puff up, like little balloons, and then deflate.  When they come out of the oven, they are soft and need to be left alone for about ten minutes.  Then you can move them to a plate or tin.  They will have a rough, mottled texture.  Wait an hour, and eat one.  It will crack apart, like a well fried egg roll (can you tell Annalena has Chinese food on her mind?), and the combination of the butter, the salt, and the lime (in that order), will fill your mouth.    And you will want another.  And another.  And another.

So, once you've made these (and you can substitute, for example, vanilla extract or orange extract or almond extract for the lim juice:  1.5 teaspoons), what do you do with the rest of that baker's ammonia?  Well, if you have a cookie that you think could use more crispness, add a quarter teaspoon of the stuff to your standard recipe. Gingersnaps, for example.  Or lace cookies.  Don't do it to biscotti though.  You should be getting your crispness from a double bake there, and in a cookie like a coconut macaroon, are you REALLY looking for crispness?  That is PERVERSION in Annalena's view.

Annalena is off to the final stages of her Christmas planning.  Happy holidays to all, however you spend it.  Please try to hug and kiss one person whom you haven't in a while (and define "a while" broadly.  Let's start with a day).

Two simple sides for the frazzled: fennel lemon relish, and tahini lemon squash

It is crunch time, ragazzi, isn't it?  If you, like Annalena, have a busy dance card of food prep coming up,  but insist on doing it "right,"  you do not cut corners.  Rather, you look for things that are tasty, fast and easy.    That way, you have the time to devote to the more complex things, or to wrap presents, or to do, whatever...  This truly is a time of year when we can all use something that takes no time, but nourishes us, and our loved ones.

Of course, Annalena is coming to the rescue, waving her magic cooking spoon (wands are for wimps), and giving you two things that , collectively, will take you less than twenty minutes of work.  And they are both good.

Know that neither of these make a meal; however,  they make your meal better.


Let us start with the relish first.  To be honest, Annalena had her doubts about this one.  It looked like it wouldn't work.  It does.  And if you are worried that the fennel in this recipe will displease your guests, let Annalena reassure you:  the anise flavor that some find displeasing, is nearly not there.  Annalena happens to love the flavor, and missed it.  Still, it is good.  And if you are planning on some white fleshed fish, or some chicken breasts, this will do you nicely.

You need a quarter cup of olive oil - 2 ounces carissimi.  Also, finely grate the zest of one lemon.  Put this in with the olive oil.  Now, chop up that lemon very finely.  (If you happen to have a meyer lemon, it works better.  If not, the lisbon lemon is fine, too).  Now, get a second lemon, and squeeze the juice of that fellow into the cup with the other ingredients.  Pour this all into a bowl, and whisk it.  Add some salt, but don't put the salt away.  You'll want some more of it. 
Next, dice up some fresh fennel:  maybe half a cup worth, maybe more.  Also, a shallot.  Very fine.  As fine as you can without getting frenetic.  And a couple tablespoons of parsley.  Put this all in the bowl.  Whisk it all together.  Taste it.  Add some salt.  Add some ground fennel if you like, or fennel pollen if you have it.  Taste again.

Now, how long did that take you?  Spoon some of it over scallops, or monkfish, or cod, or a chicken cutlet.  You will be SMILING.


Ok, now for the harder one, keeping in mind that hard is a relative term.  You need about two pounds of squash here, and we have to be careful, because we need winter squash, but varieties with thin skins.
No comments please.  Delicata and butternut come to mind.  You can still find butternut squash very easily.  You may have some trouble finding delicata, but do give a look for it.  It's probably one butternut squash, or two delicatas.  You can, also, mix them, or double the recipe, or do what you like here.    

Before you begin work, set your oven to 425.   And then slice your squashes into thin, half moon slices.  No more than about an inch thick.  Half inch is actually better, in Annalena's view.  In a bowl, toss them with three tablespoons of olive oil (more than you think),  1.5 teaspoons of ground cumin (REVIEW:  the equivalent of.... GOOD   half a tablespoon),  and some salt.

Dump this onto your baking sheet, and roast it, for fifteen minutes.  If you are so inclined, check after ten, stir the squash pieces around gently (they will be falling apart).  At fifteen minutes, add four sliced scallions to the baking sheet, stir things around, and roast for another fifteen minutes.

Let's make SAUCE.  Easy here.  You mix the juice of two lemons, and about an equal amount of tahini.  Taste.  Remember that your squash has salt on it, and the squash is going in here.

When the veggies have roasted, dump them into that tahini sauce, and just stir gently. 

Ragazzi, you will NOT believe how good this is.  In all,  it will involve about six minutes of work on your part. The oven does the rest.

Annalena almost ate the whole pan of this herself  (she DID eat all the relish and had to make more).  ALLEGEDLY, you get six servings from this.  HAH, says Annalena.

Challenging times, ragazzi.  But we are COOKS.  We can do this.  We've done it before, we'll do it again.  Into your aprons, comrades, stand facing the stove, and GET TO WORK!!!!

When life gives you lemons: oven fried chicken thighs with lemon and oregano

Yes, ragazzi, it is the time of citrus.  And the time when we are all running around looking for "easy," especially with food.  And, did we mention, healthy and low in calories? 
A contradiction in terms, don't you think?  Peppermint candies at the office coffee machine, and salad for dinner.  Ah,  as we say back home  "chi si e' visto, si e'visto."  Literally  "who saw it, saw it."  or  "it is what it is."

Don't ask Annalena to explain these idioms.  They are fascinating though, aren't they, you language geeks out there?

OK, now where is this digression leading, because it always does come back doesn't it?  Well, most of the time.  Oh yes - to a dish that is easy to make, low in calories, and ultimately, economical, because the cut of chicken that it uses - the thighs - are far less expensive than breasts and drumsticks.  And, ragazzi, Annalena prefers the dark meat (ON HER PLATE!!!!).  Chicken thighs are , in Annalena's view, usually the juiciest part of the bird, and the tastiest.  Yes, they are more fatty and more caloric than the breasts, but ultimately, compare this dish (which comes out to a whopping 300 calories a portion - which is two of the thighs)- to a big mac, or a steak, or what have you.   Annalena did not look at the protein content, but you can do that.  It's probably up there. 

So, here we go, with a trick for making something crispy, without drenching it in fat.  This works for any cut of meat that is relatively rich in fat.  Duck is the prime example, but we'll use it here, and we can also do this, with fattier cuts of beef and pork.   Let's start by collecting our ingredients:  8 chicken thighs, on the bone, and with the skin on.  You will also need one large, or two small, lemons, be they the standard lisbons, or meyers. One TABLESPOON of olive oil, but divide it:  one teaspoon, and two teaspoons.  Three sprigs of fresh oregano please, a minced, medium shallot, and a minced clove of garlic. Finally  1/4 cup of a dry white wine, and 1/2 cup of chicken stock. 

Turn your oven to 425.  If you have time, let the chicken stand at room temperature, and salt the thighs .  Let it sit for at least an hour, or overnight if you can.  If you can't, dry them as well as you can, and then salt them anyway.  Now, get a pan that will hold four of them nicely, and WITHOUT HEATING, add a TEASPOON of the olive oil.  Spread it around as best you can, and put the chicken thighs in, skin side down.  Now, put this on the flame, at medium heat.   You will see fat begin to render from the meat. This happens remarkably fast, and with great volume, with duck. Less so here, but it happens.  Let them continue to cook for about ten minutes,  and they will get nice and brown and crisp.  Repeat this with the other four chicken thighs.  As you go along, if you feel that there is too much fat in the pan, pour it out.  You only want that "slick" from a teaspoon or two. 

The chicken is not finished cooking at this point.  What you want to do is , while the meat is cooking, slice your lemon or lemons thinly.  In the empty, cleaned pan, put down about half the lemon slices and position the chicken in the pan, as best you can.  Try not to let it lay on the lemons, but if it does, not the end of the world.  Put the other half on top, and then move the pan into the oven and leave it to roast for about another ten minutes.  In that time, the lemons on the bottom of the pan will carmelize - a GOOD thing.

Now, get the pan out of the oven (PROTECT YOUR HANDS RAGAZZI), and get everything to a platter.  Now add the oregano, the chopped shallot and the chopped garlic.Cook this at medium for a minute, before you add (off of the heat), the wine.  Put it back on the heat and cook for a minute.  Watch how fast it reduces.  Now add the stock, and cook for three minutes.  Put the chicken and the lemons back into the pan, and put it back in the oven, for another five minutes or so. 

Just about done here.  Pull it out, and squeeze some of the lemon slices over the chicken.  All done.

You'll have a really delicious dish that, to be honest, is more homey than pretty, but it sure is good. And it's not hard.  Go and wrap some presents while it's cooking. 

YOU CAN DO THIS!  And you'll be glad to have this technique and this recipe in your repertoire. 

When the bomb gives you satsumas: satsuma buttermilk loaf cake

And  that, Ragazzi, is quite a mouthful.  In more ways than one.  Now, by way of explication.  Many of you will remember the expression: "when life gives you lemons, make lemonade."  Well, the Citrus Bomb  provides Annalena with her lemons.  And her oranges.  Her blood oranges.  Her bergamots (reminds her of the Supremes song:  "Bergamot... My Bergamot..").  Well, citrus, like all things comes in seasons.  We ALL have to learn that.  There isn't always a season for oranges.  Or broccoli, or whatever.  In fact, if we were true to nature, there would be seasons to eggs, to duck, to chicken, to beef, to pork, and so forth.  But we have, ragazzi, gotten so far away from protein seasons that it is indeed a lost cause. 

Oh, another digression.  What a surprise.  Ok, the point here was.. (uh, wait a minute).
Oh, yes.  Annalena had a recipe calling for grated orange peel. Except... oranges were not quite in season yet.  And she was unwilling to buy anything less than the quality she gets from Kim da Bomb.  BUT.. she had a box of lovely (MORE than lovely), satsumas.  Now, grating the peel from a satsuma is no easy feat.  In fact, Annalena daresays, it is ridiculously challenging to do.  And she wanted this cake.  She wanted it badly.  So she found a solution.

She ground up the satsumas whole.  Why not?  They were not sprayed they have no seeds, what harm could there be?  And there wasn't any. Rather what there was, at the end was a wonderful cake where everyone knew there was a citrus kick, but no one could tell what it was. 

So, get yourself a couple of satsumas (actually, get more than a few.  Ask Annalena how to get them from Ms. Kim.  Eat the rest as fruit).  Now, let's make some cake.  And, ragazzi, this will be the last dessert recipe for a while, with no regrets.  We have much to cover on other fronts.

You start with a heaping three cups of all prupose flour.  Mix this with a tablespoon of baking powder, half a teaspoon of baking soda, and a teaspoon of salt.  Add a pinch of cinnamon - say a half teaspoon, maybe more .  And if there is a spice you like with citrus, use it.  For example, Annalena is convinced that this recipe will be awesome with cocoa in it. Do we have volunteers to try it?

Put those dry things to the side.  Now get two satsumas, make sure you take the label off of them, and cut them into quarters.  Put them in your food processor, and churn them to a wet puree.  Don't worry about  the fact that there's peel, or liquid. None of it is an issue.  And you can't overdo this step.  Put that aside.

And now,  in a mixer, start blending two sticks of softened, unsalted butter, with 2 cups of sugar.   When this looks nice and fluffy add that satsuma puree.  You may think things are curdling but worry not.  Now add 4 eggs, large, one at a time.  You may need to scrape down the bowl as you do this.

Ok, now we have our dry ingredients and you will also need half a cup of a dairy of some kind: sour cream was called for in Annalena's recipe, but she used creme fraiche.  You could also use plain yogurt, or a flavored yogurt.    Add that, as well as a good slug of vanilla.  Say half a tablespoon(which is.... come on, who knows?  If you guessed one and a half teaspoons, have an extra slice of this).    Your dry ingredients are there, and pour out a cup and a half of buttermilk.   And if you only have plain milk:  let's see a show of hands: who knows how to clabber milk, besides those of you who stare at it until it sours?  YES.  Nora, big and strong, got that one right:  a tablespoon of vinegar in the milk and let it sit. GOOD GIRL, Pecuniaria. 

Add about a cup of the dry ingredients, and when that looks combined, add half the buttermilk. Then repeat.  And finish with dry.

Now, get yourself three, 8x4 inch baking pans.  DO NOT USE  two larger ones.  The reason for this, is that this cake is going to take a long time to bake, and if you try a b igger pan, you risk never finishing it.  If you don't have three 8x4 pans, then use 8 inch cake pans.  Or muffin tins.  In any event, in this case, go SMALLER than the 8x4.  And grease everything well, and pour batter in.  Don't go more than half way up the pan,  regardless of what you use, knowing that this is not going to rise much.

Now get it in the oven at 350, and be patient.  You will need 45 minutes for the 8x4 pan, and less time for smaller, less deep variants.  You all need how to tell when it's done.  Show of hands?  GOOD SUE.  Knew you'd be here.  The knife in the center.  Gunky (NO GOOD), or dry (GOOD).  And if it's not,  good, let it bake some more.

When you're done, you need to be a  bit patient in unmolding these.  There is so much fat in this recipe, that the cakes are soft, tender , and delicate ( a combination Annalena has never found in men, by the way, but that's another story).  Let them rest for about twenty minutes, and unmold them.

Even though you do not have a syrup, the cake develops a nice, sweet, sticky top, and the cake itself is dense, and lovely.  It feels like breakfast.  It's not.  It's dessert.  Get some ice cream to go with it if you like (it cries for vanilla), and sit down and enjoy it.  And with three loaves, or whatever variations you have, you have plenty to share.  So, let's try not to think about the calories, because we will be sharing the stuff with our friends, yes?  And they will be sharing back with us?

Seriously, ragazzi, if you are of the type who likes to send homespun gifts, get little tiny, disposable loaf pans, and make this.  And if you do want to do it following the original, forget the satsumas and add a tablespoon of grated orange zest.  Annalena thinks you will like the satsuma version better. But try them both. Tell her. Let her know.

When she comes back, Annalena will have a killer lemon chicken recipe for you, and some incredible roasted vegetable recipes that will almost make you forget, it's winter.

A presto, amici!

The tease ends: cranberry cobbler

Ragazzi,  we can all do our criticisms of the internet all we want, and Annalena will be one of the most critical; however, we have the internet to thank for this post.

See, when Annalena started looking for her recipe for  cranberry cobbler:  SHE COULD NOT FIND IT!!!   Now, to be fully honest, it was on a very small piece of paper, which she thought she could identify by its bright blue color (she has no idea why a recipe for cranberries was printed on blue paper, but such is our lives), and tore her apartment apart this morning looking for it (today being the day before her housekeeper cleans, it is probably the case that no one could TELL she tore the apartment apart, but we cook, we do not clean).    It was to no avail.  So... she was all set to give you her recipe for buttermilk satsuma loaf cake  (OOOOOH.  Annalena sees some drool forming),  but then she started sleuthing.


VOILA  It has been found.  And you are going to be  SO happy to have this.  Yes, you are. Even Johnny D, who loved the stew recipe,  because he, like most of you, has dessert phobia.

Johnny D, you can make this dessert.  ALL of you can.  The recipe says 10 minutes of working time, and that is probably an overstatement.

Now, to be fully fair, for those who grew up on "cobblers," this will not strik as authentic.  It is more like a quick cake, with cranberries in it.  Know what?  WHO CARES?  It is easy.  It is delicious.  And it is festive.  In fact, perhaps you should make two, and save one for breakfast, or to give away.  Annalena did so.  

Ok, so what's the fuss about?  Well, here we go.  To make ONE, melt 6 tablespoons of unsalted butter (that's 3/4 of a stick.  Just cut two tablespoons off of the the thing).  While it's melting, preheat your oven to 350, and collect your other ingredients:  2 cups of cranberries, be they fresh  or frozen, or part thawed, a cup of sugar, a cup of flour, 1 heaping teaspon of baking powder, half a teaspoon of salt, half a cup of milk and one large egg.

You probably have that all in the house, right?  Even you Johnny D.  Ok, maybe you need the flour.    So, you take your cake pan, or a skillet, or a pie pan, whatever you like, and butter it, probably with the paper used to wrap the butter you just used.    Put that aside, and whisk all the dry ingredients together in a bowl.    In a second bowl, mix the butter, eggs, and milk until they are combined.  Then pour those liquids into the flour, and stir until you combine everything.


Annalena then stirs her cranberries into this, but you can also spread them all out on top.  Then put it in the oven for 30 minutes, and you know what?  You are FINISHED!!!!

Yes, you have a dessert that you could put out at Christmas in an hour.  LESS than an hour. 

You might choose to dress this up with some grated orange peel, or some vanilla extract.  You might also consider adding a handful of dried cranberries (those "craisin" thangs) or some chopped nuts.  But do try it just unadorned and simple, before you start geegawing it.

You can handle that.  Even if you just put it out as a nice breakfast for people during this holiday season. 

Stress?  We don't need no stress here, man.  Destress.  Make and eat.  Enjoy.

Stewing over stew: beef stew with root vegetables for Johnny D

She's a tease, isn't she?  Annalena keeps on promising you her cranberry cobbler recipe.  But, as the song goes "you just have to wait."  See, when there is late breaking news, or new ideas, Annalena has to share them with you.  It is her obligation. 
Last week, Annalena made a beef stew from a recipe she concocted on the spot.  As she prepared the dish, she realized that, really,  all stews are built on a simple template.  We can complicate them, but we don't need to.  And a stew is something that everyone could use this time of year.  Yes, they take a while.   This one too 2.5 hours of cooking.  But, the yield is wonderful, the work involved is minimal, the product is delicious, the cost is de minimis, and anyone can make it.  And if you make it, you can eat it for at least a few days, simply changing what goes with it.  Think of it as another basic black dress of the cooking world.

As we go through this recipe, Annalena will be telling you where you can make your own choices.  OK?  Good.

So, it's beef stew.  That means you need... duh... BEEF.  But what cut?  When you are going to cook something for a long time, you want the part of the animal that works.  Muscles take a long time to break down (and they make damn tasty food).  So for this, Annalena used chuck.  It's very lean, and it takes a while to cook.  You could use shoulder, or you could use other cuts.  Try to avoid what is called "stew meat," as you never know what it is.  Get a roast, and cut it into chunks yourself.  If you have a knife, you can do it.  And you can cut it to the size you like.

Don't want to do beef? Ok, substitute lamb.  Or pork.  Honestly, ragazzi, you could use duck, but you would want to use the duck legs, rather than the breast, because in the avian camp, it is the legs which do the work.  That's why it's dark meat. Even in duck, which is ALL dark meat, you will find the breast to be blazing crimson, and the legs, a dark brown. 

 Pat the meat dry, and then salt it., whatever you choose (by the way, if you choose duck legs, there is no reason to cut the meat into small pieces unless you really want to.  It's fun to eat a whole duck leg after it has been stewed.  Sometimes, we call that cassoulet if everything else that goes into the stew is the right thing).    Put a good amount of oil in a pan - a WIDE one.  Enough to coat it.  And wait until it gets hot.  Again, you want the "ripple" or the smell of the oil to meet your nose.  When  you have that, put in as much meat as the pan will hold, in one layer, and LEAVE IT ALONE.  You are cooking to create a nice sear.  Listen to your pan.  It will tell you when it's time to flip the meat.  The sizzle will drop from fast and furious, to slow and lazy.  Now brown the other side.

If you need to do this in two batches, do so.  (Note we haven't used any flour.  We won't).    Store this meat in a bowl, because you don't want to lose the juices.  And when it's all browned, you don't need the fat anymore.  Out it goes.

Put the meat in a big pot.  Here, it doesn't need, and in fact shouldn't, be one layer deep.  So pile it in, and then add some liquid.  What liquid?  Well, for beef stew, Annalena uses beef stock, and red wine: zinfandel is always good, but anything with some body , where you don't have enough to drink, can be used.   You want to cover the meat just to the point where the liquid comes 3/4 to 4/5 up the sides.  Use a cup of stock, then half a cup of wine, and keep varying until you have the mark.  Now, Annalena would use red wine for lamb, but change the stock to chicken.  For pork, she would use chicken, and a spicier white wine, like gewurztraminer.  For duck, chicken stock and zinfandel. Your choice ragazzi. 

Cover the pot, and put it on the LOWEST heat your burner can handle.  Leave it for an hour, and then come back and turn the meat, so that the stuff on the top is on the bottom.  And let it go for another 45 minutes.

During that 45 minutes, prepare your vegetables.  Again, here you can use what you like, but you are going to cook them for at least another 45 minutes, so keep that in mind.  Annalena used parsley root, carrots, and a big Korean yam.  Big chunks - about the size of your meat.  And at least half the volume of the meat, up to the same amount.  Put the veggies in with the meat, stir everything together, and let it go for forty five  minutes.

Taste it.  Is the meat tender enough for you?  Are the vegetables tender? Is the salt right?  Would you perhaps like a spicy element?  Do it now, and let it sit for another fifteen minutes or so.  This is also the time to add the quicker cooking vegetables you might want, like peas, or  artichoke pieces, or something like that.    Again, construct it the way you like it.

Try not to eat it the first day.  It gets better on sitting.  It really does.  And on refrigeration, any fat in the meat will come to the top, and you can scrape it off  before you reheat it.

Polenta, rice, pureed cauliflower, noodles, mashed potatoes, are ALL good with this.  And they cook quickly enough.

So, ragazzi, go stew on this.  You'll be really happy you did.

The cobbler is coming.  Promise

"Clean" as a whistle: oven roasted flounder and bok choy

Ragazzi, Annalena promised you all a recipe for an easy dessert, and as Mozart wrote  "Sie kommt... sie kommt."    You all know, however, that when Annalena has breaking news from the kitchen, she interrupts her regular programming to let her listeners  - or viewers - know.    And as last night's dinner qualifies as (i) "clean,"  (ii) healthy  (iii) easy  (iv) quick  and (v) tasty, she has to stage an intervention.  You add to this that when she posted a picture of it, a group that could not be more diverse responded to it, and the lady MUST act. 

You will probably have to do some shopping for this recipe,  but the items are all relatively easy to find.  So, in breaking with her tradition, Annalena is going to first, provide you with a shopping list, since some of the responders to that original recipe  are in fact of a "type"  (wink, wink, nudge nudge), who need this kind of thing ( you know to whom she refers, don't you?)...

You will need

A scallion  (buy a bunch of them and use the rest for something else, or steal one from a friend)
cilantro (MAYBE... see below)
limes  - 3 or 4 of them
low salt soy sauce
rice vinegar, the unseasoned kind (more below)
fresh ginger
a pound of baby bok choy (again, more comments below)
a pound of flounder filets

You should also have the usual salt and pepper, and either dry white wine, or sake' in the house.

Now, cilantro is one of those things which can, and does, inspire great strife amongst Annalena's army.  There are the afficionados (like Annalena), and the haters (like the Guyman).  You CAN leave the cilantro out of this recipe if you like.  Annalena made the sauce, took half of it and put cilantro in it, and left it out of the rest, with chopped cilantro on the side.  The  Guyman did add some and found it pleasing.

You are going to have to squeeze the limes.  This may be Annalena's least favorite task in the world.  She has every conceivable gadget for squeezing limes, and still hates doing it.  But squeeze you must.  You will need about a third of a cup of lime juice .  The 3 or 4 limes is more than enough, but once you try squeezing them, and realize you need Ironman hands to do it, you will be grateful.

Of "low salt" soy sauce.  It sometimes seems, to Annalena, that this is almost redundant.  The pure, ridiculously salty soy sauce she grew up with (does anyone remember "La Choy?") probably still exists, but she never sees it.  And you should have soy sauce in your home anyway.

Rice vinegar is much more accessible than you may imagine.   Indeed, it is fairly ubiquitous, and you can find it in flavors, just like other vinegars.  Avoid them.  She will get in trouble here, but Annalena finds flavored vinegars an abomination.  So, too, most flavored oils.  Check the label very carefully.  Make sure you're not getting, for example, rice vinegar flavored with ginger, or something like that (rice vinegar and rice wine vinegar are the same). 

Everyone should have a chunk of fresh ginger in their house.  If you don't, go and get some today.  NOW.  SOFORT. 

"Baby" bok choi is one of those modifiers that means nothing. Annalena had two different "baby" bok chois.  One was as big as her fist, the other, as big as her two fists.   Here's one where you use what you have.  If you have small ones, you'll cut them in half.  Larger ones?  Increase to three, or four. 

Of wine, of course, the usual rules apply:  use what you would drink.  So, too, with sake'.  If you were to use white wine, this will be good,  although you may not feel it's all that authentic.  You make the call, and see how much shopping you want to do.

OK. NOW TO COOK.  Let's first turn the oven to 400 and make our sauce.  We do this by slicing that scallion thin, and putting it in a bowl with the cilantro, a quarter cup, chopped, if you're using.  Add the lime juice you secured with much cursing, three tablespoons of the soy sauce,  and 2 of the vinegar.  Chop up a tablespoon of fresh ginger, as fine as you can, and dump it in, and finally add 1.5 tablespoons of vegetable oil (She knows... it's not on the shopping list.  You have oil in your house.  Quiet.)  Stir this all together, and taste it.  Add salt, or pepper as you see fit, and put it aside.

Now, let's attack that bokchoi, and cut it into halves, thirds, or quarters, as the size dictates.  You want to get the whole pound of them into a pan at once, if you can.  If not, you'll do this in batches, and it won't be hard.  Pour two tablespoons of oil into the pan, and when the oil begins to ripple or, if you can "smell" the oil (hard to explain, but you know the scent), put the vegetables in, cut side down, at medium heat.    You want these to sear to brown, and it will take upwards of three to five minutes.  While that is happening, portion out your flounder, if you need to (at least four pieces), and pat it dry.  Then, sprinkle it with salt and pepper.    Let it sit.

When the bok choi has browned, turn it over, and take the pan off the heat for the next step.  That next step, is adding the wine or sake' directly to the hot pan.  Keep it away from your face, in case of "back splash."  And now, put the fish right on top of the vegetables, and put the thing into the oven,  for  8 minutes if the fish is small, or ten if the pieces are big.  That will be more than enough time for it to prep. 

Protect your hands, and take the pan out of the oven.  Now, this is best served in bowls, and this is how you do it.  Get a flipper or paddle of some kind, and lift out portions of the vegetables and fish.  When that's all been divided up, pour the remaining sake'/wine at the SIDE of the bowl, so it drops to the bottom .  And now, take that wonderful sauce you made, and spoon it over your fish.

You can make this in less time than it took you to read it.  And, let Annalena give you some more information.  When she originally got this recipe, it said "serves four."  She believes that "hobbits" should follow four.   These are NOT big portions.  And since each one has only 260 calories, they won't.  So that whole pan of fish and veggies has 1040 calories.  She thinks you can have a double portion.  And some rice. 

So, ragazzi, go and make this.  Get your Asian ingredients and feel noble about the healthy, clean food you just made.  And then you won't feel so bad when we have our cranberry cobbler.

Our cruciferous crusade continues with roasted curried cauliflower

Now if THAT title does not say  "brought to you by the letter C," Annalena does not know what does.  And aren't we all glad that Sesame Street and Big Bird are safe ?  (Incidentally, ragazzi, if you want a little tear jerker moment, go to youtube and watch Big Bird singing "It's not Easy Being Green" at the Jim Henson memorial.  Annalena is tearing up thinking about it now).


Ok, now that was way more of a digression than usual around here, wasn't it?    Back to topic:  as promised, (or threatened), we continue our survey of the cruciferous vegetables today.  Every year, it seems, that a particular vegetable falls out for the Guyman and Annalena as the "veggie of the year."  This year, it seems to be cauliflower.  We like it, and we eat it, but this year, we seem to have eaten more of it than ever.  We'll be eating it tomorrow in a simple puree under beef stew, for instance, and ate it last week as soup. And so on, and so forth.   And when you use a particular item over and over again, you learn what works, and what does not.  You have to.

Curries, and hearty, "heavy" spices work really well with cauliflower.  Think of all those Indian cauliflower dishes.   Perhaps it is the assertive nature of the vegetable, who knows?  In any event,  when Annalena first saw this recipe, she thought "ANOTHER curried cauliflower?"  But the "roasted" brought her eye back.  Especially when she saw that the roasting happened at 450.  AND... the recipe contains coriander, which is, perhaps, the spice of the year.  And it is good. 

Here, a mild digression again, ragazzi.  This recipe comes from epicurious.com, and Annalena would like to suggest that site to all of you, and a suggestion for any of these sites:  if a recipe appeals to you, read the reviews.  Inevitably, you will learn something that may change the way you do the recipe.  Annalena did so here, because, well, she was just not interested in grinding her own spices for this one.  The "zip" wasn't there.  And, someone had written that she had used preground spices and didn't perform the toasting step either, and the dish was fine.

Annalena did toast, as you will learn, but if someone else thought you didn't have to, well then.

So, here we go.  The recipe calls for four pounds of cauliflower.  Honestly, ragazzi, that is not as much as you would think.  It is either a very large head of the stuff, or two smaller ones.  If you have a crowd, or you don't mind leftovers, do the full amount.  If you don't, or do,  (refer back to the prior sentence), cut the amount of veggie, but do not cut the other ingredients.  You do need them all.  And if you're not doing this with at least one large head of cauliflower, it is not worth doing.

Ok, break the florets off of your cauliflowers, while you preheat your oven to 450.  Peel a very large onion, quarter it, and then separate the onion into individual leaves.  It's kind of fun.  Put them together with the cauliflower.

Now, if you're going to go "all out" for this recipe, get a teaspoon each of cumin seeds, and coriander seeds, and toast them in a small skillet, over low heat, for five minutes OR until you smell the toasty smell.  This will probably not take five minutes.  Get them off the heat immediately, and get them in the spice grinder.  Alternatively, use a teaspoon of each, ground and toast it, or don't toast them at all.    Put these in a bowl, and add - ready for this?  3/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil, and then whisk in 1/2 cup of red or sherry vinegar.  Keep whisking and add a heaping TABLESPOON  of curry powder (any kind you have, but make sure it is fragrant),  and an additional tablespoon of hot paprika.  The original recipe calls for Hungarian.  Annalena had  Spanish piccante, and liked it.  Finally, whisk in two teaspoons of salt.

Spread out the veggies on a baking sheet.  It will be tight, but you can do it.  Pour the dressing you just made over them, and stir it all together with your hands (you could also add the dressing to a bowl with the vegetables, toss it, and then put that on the roasting pan.  Your choice).    Sprinkle on some pepper, if you like, and put it all in the oven.

Every ten minutes or so, stir the veggies a bit.  You do this because the part touching the pan is going to brown much more than the rest, and you don't want this beautiful stuff to burn. 

For about the first twenty (of what will be forty five minutes), you will wonder what the hell is going on.  There will be no color change, no smell , no sizzle.  NIENTE.  BUT...at thirty, as if by wizardry, the stuff begins to darken and even blacken - a good thing.  And at forty five minutes.  OH do you have a wonderful side dish.  Or main dish if you plan to eat this with rice and a green of some kind. 

This was terrific warm, but Annalena thinks it would be better at room temperature.  How about the first of you to make it, and leave it to cool, lets us all know what it's like? 

Come on folks, if you are still going seasonally, you know our choices are limited.  There's good cauliflower out there. Go get some, and make yourself a mess of this.  YUM

Another pumpkin bread, this time, with cranberries

Yes, ragazzi, Annalena is playing bait and switch with you again.  And she doubts any of you will mind.

Last time around, Annalena promised to continue her survey of the cruciferous vegetables and provide a roasted cauliflower recipe.  She will do that, but.... yesterday, she made another fresh pumpkin bread recipe, and posted pictures on her facebook account.  The response was somewhat overwhelming.  Recipe requests.   

Now, NONE of Annalena's army could POSSIBLY be making this to eat now, could they? NO, not my healthy marauders.  No, you're all looking for it to make for Christmas and holiday gifts, right?

Right.  Well, to be honest, Annalena made hers to give to people, but also to try to cut down on her consumption of morning muffins, which come in at about 400 calories each (she checked).  This bread comes in at 200 calories a slice, if you get sixteen slices out of a loaf (and good luck with that!).  But... knowing that a loaf comes in at 3200 calories does allow you to make your own judgements.  And, unlike the muffins in a store,  you will know what you are getting.  And here we go.


This is the recipe for two loaves, which you can half.  Indeed, Annalena originally doubled the recipe, because whatever is good once, HAS to be better twice, yes?  She used fresh pumpkin, which she had baked, scraped, and pureed.  For those of you less dedicated (or crazy), you can use a can of pumpkin.  And making two loaves is better in that case, because you need a cup of pumpkin for a loaf, and a can of pumpkin has two cups in it.  So rather than let that half of the can languish in the back of your refrigerator until tendrils reach out and try to grab you, make the two loaves.  You will be glad you did.

Let's start by putting the oven to 350.  Now, in a very (and Annalena means VERY) large bowl, put three cups of all purpose unbleached flower, and three cups of whole wheat flour.  Add a tablespoon and a teaspoon (or, 4 teaspoons), of baking soda.  Also add a full tablespoon of cinnamon, and a teaspoon each of ground cloves and nutmeg.  This may seem like a lot of spice, but it isn't.  And, as always, please make sure your spices are fresh.  Smell them.  Add a teaspoon of salt, and fluff all of this together so that it's combined.

In a separate bowl, add two cups of pumpkin (if you are using the canned stuff, please make sure you use PUMPKIN and NOT pie filling), and four eggs, two cups of sugar and a cup of vegetable oil.  Mix all of this together as best you can.

REVIEW TIME:   what does it tell us about a recipe when oil, rather than butter is used in a cake, especially when the flavoring ingredient is arguably a vegetable?  C'mon ragazzi, we've gone over this before.  You know. 

Stir it all together  and then plop it into the flour mix, and stir it all together until it's just moist, and there are no dry spots visible.  This will take longer than you think, but not long.  Now, three cups of cranberries, be they fresh (if you are fortunate enough to live on the East Coast and have access to such at your farmers market), or bagged and frozen (if you are a West Coaster.  Sorry folks, we may have winter but WE HAVE FRESH CRANBERRIES!!!!),  and stir them all together. 

Get two, 9x5 inch baking pans (these are so-called "quickbread" pans.    They are the larger of the two sizes available, the other one being... ok, another pop quiz).  Grease your pans well (confession here, bambini:  Annalena forgot to grease her pans, but either the oil in the cakes was sufficient, or she has used her pans so often, lubrication was not necessary).  Spoon the batter in equally, and get them in the oven.

The original recipe said this would be ready in an hour and a quarter.  It lied.  It was between an hour and a half and an hour and 3/4 for Annalena.  And we know it's done, how...?  OK, this one, she'll tell you:  during the baking process, the cakes will rise , crest, and crack.  Put a small knife into the center of the cake, and when there is no gunk sticking to it when it comes out of the pan, you're ready.

Let them cool for about five minutes, then turn them over carefully, protecting your hands.  Let them cool on racks.

Try not to eat these the first day, as any cake based on spices can use a day for those flavors to develop.


Ok, so we can all feel good about our wholesome, natural selves, as we eat too many calories.  Moderation ragazzi.  And the treadmill.  If you live in NYC, set it for Las Vegas. 

Easy continues: sweet and sour cabbage

As we've discussed, ragazzi, we are at that time of year where even those of us who ignored the "GET MAXIMUM FLAVOR WITH MINIMUM EFFORT!'   banners, are looking.  Much as we try,  we cannot escape the rhythm of this season, which gets faster and faster and faster.  And as all of us know, as we move, faster, and faster, we eat worse and worse.    The stuff that's GOOD for us, takes time.  And right now.... Well, you know.

Annalena is trying to rescue us from this.  Yesterday's soup was one suggestion.  Today, we turn to a neglected vegetable:  cabbage.  Annalena can hear the voices now  "OH.  I LOVE CABBAGE."  Well, when was the last time you cooked it?  Or ate it?  And when was the last time you ate it in a form other than coleslaw?

Hmmmm.   We have some work here.  With an easy  dish.  REALLY easy.  And really good.  In Annalena's experience, cabbage and vinegar is one of those marriages like tomatoes and basil:  it seems so obvious when it's done, but someone had to try it first.  There was no manual of "what goes with what" that came down from the mountain with the Commandments, bambini.  So, let's get to work with this dish, that really does take less than twenty minutes to make, and COULD (but shouldn't), serve as your whole meal.

Here come your ingredients:  an apple.  An onion.  Some vegetable oil:  two tablespoons of it.  Half a cup of cider vinegar, and half a cup of sugar.  You can get all of that together without too much trouble, yes?  Now, the cabbage.  You should look for smaller heads, and get two of them.  You do this, rather than getting one, large head, because (i) smaller heads are easier to cut and (ii) you can mix the cabbages.  Annalena did this with red cabbage and spitzkohl, but you could mix red with savoy, spitz with savoy, or do all of one kind.  Essentially, you want about 2 pounds of cabbage in total.  Cut the heads in half, lengthwise, and then cut the big core out of it.  It's not hard to do.  Then, turn the halves, cut side down and with your knife, cut narrow ribbons of the stuff.  This will take you all of five minutes.  Put it aside and get a grater.  The three sided kind is best, and grate your apple.  If you wish to peel it, go ahead.  In Annalena's experience, if the apple is fresh and firm, you won't need to.  Tart ones are better, but if you like sweet, do sweet.  And the size of the apple doesn't really matter.  Now, peel and slice the onion into thin rings.

We are ready to go.. Put the oil in a big wide pan, and get it hot.  Add the onion and garlic at the same time.  Stir them around, and watch for the onion to just take on some golden color.  Now, add as much cabbage as the pan can hold, and the sugar and vinegar. Stir everything together.  As the cabbage heats up, it will wilt, and  you'll have room for the rest of it.  When you can get it all in the pan, put a cover on it, lower the heat, and leave it alone for five minutes.

During that time, IF you are so inclined, chop up a little smoked ham, or prosciutto , or Canadian bacon, or anything you like.  Take the cover off of the pan, taste the cabbage, and adjust for salt and pepper.  Add some caraway seeds if you like, or go "wild" and add ginger.  Finally, add your pork if you are. 

And know what?  You've got a really healthy, inexpensive side dish.  Very tasty, very filling, and very good for you.  With fish, with pork, or just with a plate of potatoes. 

Go for it ragazzi. You could make this in the time it took Annalena to type the blog. 

More cruciferous veggies coming up.  And the world's easiest cobbler.  You will thank Annalena for that one.

Good, fast AND cheap: Annalena turns to cans for tomato chickpea kale soup

Do any of my ragazzi of a certain age remember an old industry saying:  "Good.  Fast.  Cheap."  Choose two.  Indeed, if one thinks about it, it is true isn't it?  If you want something done well, and fast, you must pay for it.  If you want it fast, and cheap, don't expect it to be good.  And so on and so forth.  We can play all kinds of combinations, and on a day that is cold and windy (which seems to be the case everywhere today),  it is perhaps a game to play.

But instead, let's apply it to cooking.  We are all very much resting,  restoring, after the craze that is Thanksgiving.  So, while we may not WANT to cook , we really do.  We just don't want anything elaborate.  We want something warm, something easy, and after the excesses of the holiday, we want something good for us.

Can Annalena call a situation or what?     This is why you love her.  And she is coming to the rescue with a soup that is SO good, and SO good for you... you may just not be able to handle it.

Full disclosure here, ragazzi.  Annalena has broken with her precepts and used canned beans rather than soaking the dry ones.  In the frenzy of the holiday, she had forgotten to replenish her supplies of chickpeas. The soonest she could get them was today, and rather than let a day be lost with soaking them, she used organic ones.  And know what?  The soup is good.  It is REALLY good, and it is better than it was supposed to be, because Annalena worked her magic and added greens.

Now, here we go.  You can have this soup on the table in 30 minutes.  You really can.  You start with a small yellow onion, cut in chunks.  Chunk cut two small or one large carrot, and two stalks of celery.  Put them all in a food processor and pulse to dice them, or get your big knife and do it.  Now, put them in a pot with a tablespoon and a  half of olive oil.  Stir in some salt, and let them cook, while you open cans... Yes, ragazzi, cans.  Two one pound cans of chickpeas, and a large can of tomatoes.  Puree, whole, or diced will all work. Pour EVERYTHING into the pot.  EVERYTHING.  And then add a big sprig of rosemary and a bay leaf.  Finally, add a quart of stock.  If you are keeping this vegan, use vegetable stock.  Annalena has never found one she likes so she used chicken.    And, finally, kale.  Annalena had baby kale in the fridge, and stripped about 1/2-3/4 pound of the leaves, and tossed them into the soup.  Bring it all to a simmer for twenty minutes.  Correct the seasonings.

Now, you can eat this soup just as it is.  It is big and chunky.  BUT... if you puree it, you get:





Isn't that a pretty soup?  The picture actually does not give you the true sense of the dark green in the stuff, but that's ok. 

The more adventurous out there will see the opportunity for spicing this as you see fit, adding croutons, and so forth.  Indeed, originally, the recipe called for a tomato chickpea soup with c rispy kale croutons.  Remember "quick"  above?  Annalena has no time for kale chips these days.

You will wind up with 2.5 quarts or so, of a truly good soup.  Go through that recipe again:  1.5  tablespoons of oil, for 2.5 quarts of soup.  Beans.  Vegetables.   Broth.    Can you go wrong?  Annalena thinks not.

Go make a pot of this today.  You will be VERY glad you did.

All hail to kale: white fish with kale and chorizo

As the winter approaches, Annalena is hearing more and more stories from people who belonged to CSAs, and were confronted with... kale.  As one person put it, "bales and bales of kale."    And yes, if that were to happen, even Annalena and Chris, the kale king, would probably get sick of the stuff.

BUT, ragazzi, facts are facts. And those of us who eat seasonally must face the fact that kale is one of the few greens that winters.  In fact, some say that the colder it gets, the better the kale tastes.  That's a matter of personal opinion,  but it's here, it's kale, get used to it.

Not too catchy, huh?  Oh well.    Now, of course, these days we have to ask the question: WHAT KIND of kale are we talking about?   For most people who are sick of the stuff, they are speaking of huge bunches of the big leafy green stuff that have either been cooked for too little, or too long a time.  But there is purple kale, Russian kale (the stuff we're used to), black kale (cavolo nero), baby kale, and probably more than Annalena can think of.   They will all work in the recipe that follows.  As will other greens, like chard, beet greens, or even broccoli rabb.  And other sausages will work as well.  And so will other types of fish that are firm, and white.

The recipe is somewhat similar to a dish that is Iberian in origin.  Indeed, the original recipe called for hake, which is a fish very common in Iberian waters.  It makes its way to the East  Coast from time to time, but chances are, you won't find it locally.  Annalena didn't.  So use cod, or monkfish, or what she used:  pollak  (probably spelled wrong). They will all work here.

Chorizo is standard, but there are many kinds of chorizo.  And if you don't care for hot sausage, use a sweet one.  Or, if you must, a turkey sausage although it won't taste as good.  Annalena means it.  You need the fattiness here, for what is essentially a very lean dish.   But here we go.

You need a quarter cup of extra virgin olive oil, and a quarter pound of sausage.  When you get your sausage, cut it out of the casing, and then cut the solid into thin rounds (you can take the casing off AFTER, but ...well, you'll be glad you did it first.).  Get a medium yellow onion, peel it, and slice it into thin rounds.   Slice up two cloves of garlic.  You also need a BIG bunch of kale.  Or a couple of small bunches.  Bottom line is, you want enough kale so that, when you pull the leaves off of the branches, you will have a bout eight cups of it.  This is 8 cups, piled up.  No pressing the stuff down here.

Finally a cup of dry white wine, and a pound of the aforementioned white fish, cut into the number of serving pieces you need.

We're going to make the kale and sausage first, which will tell you that you can use this for other things as well.  Eat it as a side dish, use it as a pasta "sauce," etc.  All good here.

Put two tablespoons of olive oil in a big frying pan, and get it hot.  Add the sausage.  If you are using chorizo, the red color from the spices will leach into the oil, which is a good thing.  Cook the sausage until it's beginning to crisp a little.  (If you don't use chorizo, maybe a bit of paprika?).  In all, 3 minutes or so will do.  Then add the onions, and  the garlic, stir it all together, and stir occasionally.  Watch the onion for when it turns translucent.  The 8 minutes the recipe called for, was way too long.    Now, add the kale.  You may have to do this in stages, cooking until it wilts.  All in all, this will take about thre eminutes.  Add a half cup of wine, and a quarter cup of plain water (I left that out up there.  S orry).  Cover the pan, and lower the heat.  Let this cook for 20 minutes or so. 

You can do the fish while this is happening, but the fish cooks quickly, so for your own mental health, Annalena suggests you wait.    After the 20 minutes, the kale is going to look very black, and unappetizing.  Add some salt and pepper and taste it, and you'll disagree. 

Now take the rest of the oil, and put it in a separate pan.  Pat the fish dry, sprinkle some salt and pepper, and sear it.  Probably 4 minutes on one side, and three on the other.  Take this off the heat now, and put the fish on a plate.  OFF THE HEAT, add the remaining wine.  On the heat, bring it to a simmer, and add the fish back, and cook for another three minutes or so. The wine will reduce to a few tablespoons, and the fish will become incredibly tender.

Now, you just assemble things.  A mound of kale, a piece of fish.  The flavors do bounce off of each other in the dish, so please don't leave out the sausage.  It will taste a lot richer than it is.

Four tablespoons of oil (that's a quarter cup), and the sausage, and four servings. An ounce of sausage each.  A tablespoon of oil  Vegetables, fish.  Not too bad? 

Keep it in mind as you recover from Thanksgiving, or just make it for yourself and feel good as you enjoy something you might have avoided.

Taking it slow and sweet: braised shoulder lamb chops with fruit

There is no question that we are moving into winter, ragazzi.  Why is that?  Well, when Annalena comes back from market SENZA POMODORI even though they are available (that is "without tomatoes" for those of you who have not picked up our native tongue here), it is decidedly winter.  Yes, we are moving into the phase of darker, slower cooking, with deeper, stronger, more "comfortable" flavors.  It seems to be a prelude to Thanksgiving time (by the way, if any of you have GOOD EASY recipes for gravy which do not involve synthetic products, let Annalena know), that we crave slower cooked dishes.  All of a sudden, it doesn't seem to matter that the greens are dark green instead of bright green, or that they're soft, instead of crisp.

Make no mistake about it, Annalena does love her salads, and will continue to serve them forth, but the obsession with baby greens is over for the time being.  Different greens, different techniques, different tastes.

And so it goes with cooking magazines.  Farewell to the issues on grilling.  It's already past the  "your Thanksgiving for 35 people made SIMPLE!"  headlines.    Now, Annalena is collecting recipes on root vegetables, braises, and so forth.

And that is how she came to this one.  See, Annalena is not  a systematic recipe collector.  No, no no.  Essentially, she piles up the recipes she wants, until she looks at them in horror and says "OH MY GOD.  They MUST be organized."  Then there is a flurry, a promise to never fall behind again, and organization.

In the process of the last exercise along these lines, Annalena pulled out "recipes to cook NOW" as she always does.  This is one such recipe (we will have another next).  It combines two ingredients that work remarkably well together:  lamb, and dried fruit.  Indeed, the careful reader will find a recipe for a lamb shoulder stew with apricots on this blog.  One might consider this the little brother of that dish.  Annalena thinks of it as the weekday alternative, which in fact it was.  You can have this dish on the table in less than an hour.  It DOES take close to that, however.  On the other hand, it also refrigerates beautifully. So, ragazzi, if you know that, for example, you are going to be pressed for time on Thursday, but you have an hour on Tuesday night, collect your ingredients, cook a mess of these chops, put em aside, and it is like living off of interest.

Annalena thinks.  She is not there.  Anyway, here we go.  You need four pretty good sized shoulder lamb chops.  At least a half pound each.  You can go bigger, but you must keep in mind that all of these guys are going into one pan, and it is difficult to get a mass of chops into even the biggest of pans.    Salt them and pepper them, and put them to the side while you gather your other ingredients.

These are a tablespoon of coriander seeds, which you will grind in your spice grinder (which should be an old coffee bean grinder).  You also need 8 peeled cloves of garlic, which you shall half  (this is about a bulb of garlic), and around ten sprigs of thyme.  You don't have to be crazy about counting these out:  just grab a bunch of them from the bunch you have. 

Now, the key ingredients:  a cup of zinfandel wine.  Other wines will work, but zinfandel is best, because it has so much fruit in it, and...
you also need half a cup each of dried cherries and apricots.  The apricots will need to be cut into pieces, so if you find them that way, bravissimo.  Finalmente, two cups of beef stock.

OK, here we go.    Put a few tablespoons of olive oil in a pan, and while it's heating, at medium heat, rub that coriander all over your lamb chops.    Put the chops into the oil with the garlic and the thyme (it will be a tight fit).  Turn the chops after three minutes, and brown the other side, and don't worry about the garlic and thyme.  You want them to cook.

Be careful on the next step, perhaps even pulling the pan off of the heat and holding it away from your face.  Add the wine and dried fruit, and then bring this all to a boil.  (Lamb fat sputters terribly.  You want to move this away from your flame and face because, as happened with Annalena, the fat may sputter with some wine, and the alcohol will flame the entire pan.  No big issue if you're careful, but you can avoid it.  ).  Increase the heat and cook for about five minutes.  Now, add the broth, lower the heat, cover the pan, and go away for a half hour.  Actually, come back in fifteen minutes and turn the chops over.

After thirty minutes, take the chops out, and increase the heat.  Boil the liquid until it's reduced to a few tablespoons.  This will not take long. 


Now, you can serve this as it is: just put the chops back into the sauce, or pour the sauce over them; however, if you do that, you have a good quantity of lamb fat in your dish.  If that doesn't bother you, groovy.  If it does, then you want to make this ahead of time, and let the fat cool, and coagulate, so you can get rid of it.     That is in fact what Annalena did.  And the chops were terrific.

So, ragazzi, give this a try.  You could vary the fruit, but think before you do:  think of the flavor of the cherries, and of the apricots, and try to replicate.   And do not forget to serve the rest of that wine with your meal. 

Keep warm, ragazzi. 

GNARLY: Potato celery root gratin

Annalena has made no secret of her rather unwieldly cookbook collection.  What she HAS kept secret is that, at this point, she rarely looks for recipes in them.  This is true, ragazzi, and it is NOT because she is such an expert she doesn't need them.  Rather, it comes from two points: first, she's too lazy to do so.  Second, by and large, Annalena, as do all of you, rests on the same techniques and principles for her cooking.  A breaded fish, is a breaded fish.  Want pasta sauce?  What's in the fridge?  And so on and so forth.    Sounds familiar, doesn't it?  And it speaks to general principles:  keep your fridge and pantry stocked with good stuff, learn some basics, and you'll never need to read Annalena for anything other than entertainment again.

Except... sometimes, she DOES go to them for inspiration.  In deciding to make lentil soup, Annalena was tired of her regular recipe, so she looked for inspiration, and went to her collection of cookbooks from Greens restaurant.  This is always something that can be very time consuming because, there's always "that" recipe that strikes her as something she should try.  And THAT one.  And THAT one... So it was, and you will be seeing this happen in days and even weeks to come, as Annalena looks for inspiration for her fall and winter vegetables.

This time, one of the books fell open to a recipe for "celery root gratin."  Now, Annalena LOVES celery root.  And this is not a vegetable that is easy to love.  She thinks that "gnarly" may have been invented to describe it:




See what she means?  All that green stuff, and all that brown stuff, will have to go off of the thing before you cook it.  But what you will wind up with is something that tastes in between potatoes and celery.  It is SO good.  The French know this.  They serve it raw, in celery root remoulade, which is essentially sliced celery root and mayonnaise.  Nuthin wrong with that, huh kids? 

But this recipe was intriguing:  a baked cheese dish with celery root.  EXCEPT... there was no cheese in it.  Only as an option.  It was, in fact, a vegan recipe which COULD be made dairy vegetarian.  That is how Annalena made it.  As with so many recipes here, it is easy.  VERY easy.  And if you are willing to take out a good knife and clean a couple of the above monsters,  you will be rewarded with a beautiful, unique, and tasty dish.  And Annalena asserts it belongs on your Thanksgiving table.

Here we go.  First, you need a baking dish that will accommodate about three pounds of ingredients.  Something  like a deep dish 9 inch pie pan, or a 9x9 square should do it.  If you have nothing that big, divide this.    For ingredients, you will need about a cup and a half of a tomato product (we will come to this below), a pound and a half of potatoes (more on this below too), and about a pound and a half of celery root.  That's probably two medium sized one, but ask your farmer to weigh them.  And if you want the cheese option, 3-4 ounces of a good strong cheese, like gruyere, or a good swiss (which is what Annalena used).

Preheat your oven to 375 while you prep the ingredients.  For the tomato product:  the recipe called for a cup and a half of tomat sauce.  Annalena had sauce on hand, but she also had a very large heirloom tomato, the second of two which were giving her the snake eye.  So, she chopped it, salted it, and mixed it with olive oil. Fine, fine fine.

For your potatoes:  you're going to be boiling them, so red skins are best, or yukon golds.  Actually, anything but russets will do.  The russets will fall apart on  you, rather than stay in the slices you need.

Get a pot of water (don't heat it yet).  Peel your potatoes, and slice them into about 1/3 inch slices.  Get them in cold water, add salt, and bring them to a simmer.  You will want to cook them for about five minutes, which will not completely cook them, but will get them started.

While that's happening, prep your celery root.  No peeler here folks.  Get a big strong knife.  Cut the bottom half inch off to make it sit up straight, then the green stuff on top, and then just cut down like you're peeling a pineapple.  After you have the large, white "thang," cut it in half, lengthwise, and then cut those into slices about the size of the potato slices.

By now, the potatoes should be done.  Get them out with a strainer so  you can reuse the water for the celery root (Hurricane Sandy did teach Annalean something).    The celery root, too, cooks for about five minutes.  And now, drain that. 

You will have two, separate bowls of vegetables.  You need to let them cool a bit, and then we can get started.

Put half of your tomatoes on the bottom of your dish.  Now, layer potatoes and celery root, alternating slices, in rings.  Pack it tight.  If you are using the cheese option, put half of it, either in small chunks, cubes or grated, over this layer.  Now repeat the tomatoes, the vegetables, and the cheese.  You should be done with all.  IF you have left over vegetables, toss them on top.

Put the whole thing, uncovered, into the oven for 45 minutes.  Your home is going to smell wonderful and when it comes out of the oven... OH, MY.  This is one where Annalena wishes she had taken a picture.

That did not sound like much work, did it?  And it's not.  You could do this in a little more than an hour, and your work time is on the order of twenty minutes.

Try something different, ragazzi.  You will become acquainted with a vegetable which, Annalena warns you, may become an obsession...

Look to the lentil: Annalena makes lentil soup

It is that time of year where we would all normally be looking for comfort.  Let us face it, ragazzi, once November 1 comes around, it's a sprint to the end of the year - for ALL of us.  And in that sprint, how many of us feel "I'm not taking care of myself," or  "I'm not getting what I want." 

Are you looking around?  Lots of hands going up.  Well, Annalena hopes that this recipe is going to help fix that, at least a bit.

One of the ways we try to "take care of ourselves" is by spoiling ourselves, or reaching for what we feel is comfort food.  And, let us face it:  there are not many of us who equate celery sticks,  crispy apples, and low fat yogurt with comfort.  In fact, maybe there are NONE of us.  During trying times, we eat to feel good.  Annalena was struck by an article she read last week that said that many people were commenting on the weight they had gained during the recovery from Hurricane Sandy.  Reaching for cookies, french fries, and so forth, had much to do with it.

Annalena is proud to say that in fact, she and the Guyman LOST weight during that period.  It was the 12 flights of stairs, up and down, 5- 6 times a day, every day.  And the attempts to keep to routine. 

But that goes off track a bit.  Let's go back to comfort food, and think about it for a minute:  soup.  Is there anyone who does not feel cuddled, and in fact, HUGGED, by a bowl of good tasting, hot soup?   Annalena thinks not.  BUT... we do not often think of it when we reach for comfort food for a couple of reasons.  First, it is difficult to find GOOD soup when you buy it.  Soup prepared in huge 40 gallon portions, does not taste good, and it can't.  The stuff you make at home is going to be much better.  BUT... Annalena can hear you saying now  "it's so hard...  "  and  "it takes too much time.'

Well, no, it's not, and if you spent an hour playing online, you could have been making soup.  And enough for more than one meal.  And we're going to be making lentil soup today, adapted from one of Annalena's cookbooks from the wonderful "Greens" restaurant.  It is called Moroccan Lentil soup, although  Annalena does not know why.  Follow through this ragazzi, and make your own variations.  It is a VEGAN soup that is very low in fat, and very high in all that is good for you.

There is only one thing that you need to be careful of:  BUY GOOD LENTILS.  If you have made lentil soup before, and found it unsatisfactory, it was probably because you used those lentils you can buy in a bag for 69 cents. 

You get what you pay for.  Buy good lentils.  For this soup, Annalena recomments  brown lentils from Castellucio Italy . You can find them in any good Italian market.  They will set you back about 3.00 for a pound, which is enough to make about six quarts of soup.

You will need a cup of the dried ones for this. (Incidentally, you could use the red ones, "dhal", or the green ones  "lentils du Puy" here as well.  The red ones will give you a very soft soup, the green ones, a thin one with chewier lentils.  It is up to you.  ).  Measure them out, and put them aside whilst you prepare your vegetables and spices.

For vegetables, dice up a large onion.  You want about two cups.  Also, dice a couple of carrots, to get a cup, and a few stalks of celery.  If the celery is less than the amount of carrots, don't sweat it.    Put these aside, and measure out your spices.

Here, Annalena will tell  you what she used, but you can vary this.  You really can.  Annalena had a quarter teaspoon of cayenne pepper, a heaping half teaspoon of cumin and ground coriander, and a half teaspoon of tumeric.    You should have the pepper and cumin in your house.  If you don't, get some.  Annalena does not expect you to have the others.  You can use ginger, or curry powder, or anything you like, as long as it's fresh, and honest.

You will also need a cup of tomato product of some sort.   Annalena cut up a huge heirloom tomato that was giving her the stink eye.  Canned tomatoes , crushed, will work, as will tomato sauce.  And, finally, get some fresh ginger.

Ok, now we're ready to cook.  Put the lentils in a pot with six cups of water, and a teaspoon of salt. Start them cooking.  About twenty minutes. 

Next to them, put two tablespoons of olive oil in a pan, with the onions, carrots and celery, together with a pinch of salt, and the cayenne pepper.  Start these cooking,  until the onion just begins to brown.  Now , add those spices, and stir, for about three minutes, to release the flavor of the spices.  You'll smell it.  And now add the tomato and a big tablespoon of fresh grated ginger, and cook again, for another five minutes.  Probably, the lentils and your vegetables, will finish up at the same time. 

Don't drain the lentils.  Rather, combine the water, the lentils, and those vegetables,  and then cook them, at low heat, for another half hour.  Chances are, your water levels will go down and you'll need to add more.  Indeed, Annalena added a full three additional cups over the course of cooking this.  Adjust the seasoning as you go.  As you add more water, you will need to add salt.  You may want to add more ginger.  But at the end, you will have nearly two quarts of delicious, healthy soup.

If you like, you can add things, like chopped up leftover chicken to this, or cooked greens (a combination Annalena heartily recommends), or anything you like. 

You will have been in the kitchen for an hour.  You will have enough soup for you and at least one friend, and  you WILL feel hugged.  And know what?  You don't have to feel bad or guilty about it. 

These days, we all need hugs, and no one needs to feel guilty about what they put in their mouths.  Be a bit empowered, ragazzi.  Annalena wants you all to make soup this week.

Survival salad

Well, that WAS an interesting time there, wasn't it, ragazzi on the Northeast?    Annalena is still recovering from it, in the mental and psychological sense.  Her power is back on, lights are on, there's hot water, heat in the apartment, and the trains are pretty much here again.  But the memories of that week will "linger," although Annalena would prefer to use the word "fester."  In her 55 years on this planet, the lady has never experienced anything like that.  Walking up and down twelve flights of stairs, up to six times a day was less an inconvenience than one would think.  Flushing the toilet once a day, with two gallons of water, was moreso.  Listening to the empty news reports was frustrating, as was realizing that she and the Guyman had not prepared properly for this.    Tossing out thawed meat that had cost her a small fortune was sad, but needed to be done, and Annalena did it ruthlessly.   

Everyone has his or her breaking point, and to be honest, Annalena's came at a very odd point.  She and the Guyman had had dinner in midtown,  since they assumed that their neighborhood was, essentially, closed.  She had ordered a car to pick them up afterwards, because cabs were scarce.  The car never appeared.  A frantic call to the company (who will not be named), indicated they had lost the reservation, but could send a car "in 1-3 hours."    Really?    Anyway,  the  Guyman and Annalena found a cab, and the image, upon arriving home, of power and light two blocks away, but not for her, sent Annalena over the edge.  It truly did.  She's not proud, but not sorry.  Everyone has theirs.

Ok, enough of that.  To food.  Annalena's oven was out of service for the duration, but her cooktop is gas powered, so  she and the Guyman ate well.  They ate very well.    But with nothing to buy at the markets, there came a time where Annalena began to be stumped.  This salad, born from what was in the house, turned out to be much better tasting than it has any right to be.  In fact, it is so good, that we will have it again.

Calling it "survival salad" is too dramatic, but it will get you to read this.  It's a good salad.  Annalena wants you to make it.  Please.

You start with cherry tomatoes.  Half them, and then look at how many you have.  This is how you will measure the two next ingredients, which are green olives, and celery.  You want half as much of each of these, as you have tomatoes.  For green olives,  ragazzi, we do NOT use olives from a can, and we do NOT use pitted olives.  (Although Annalena will admit that pitting olives by candlelight is an interesting sport).  Crush the olives with your big knife, and don't worry about the shape they're in.  Toss them in a bowl, with the cherry tomatoes.  Now, celery.  Smaller ribs, please.  Cut thin half moons of the stuff, to a quantity equal to the olives.  And, finally, one large red or pink grapefruit.  Peel it, segment it, and mix it in with all of the other ingredients.  Now, make a dressing.  Mustard, please.  White vinegar, and olive oil.  Heavier on the olive oil than you might think, because you are getting acid from the grapefruit.   Taste, and salt as you need  (and in a stressed situation, you will want more).

This is delicious.  The ingredients are available just about always, so while we can call it local with farmers market tomatoes (still there!), you can make it any time of year.  It also keeps well in the refrigerator, even one that doesn't work, and tastes great on toasted bread as a left over.

Enjoy it, ragazzi!  Annalena hopes that everyone who experienced this traumatic event, learned something from it.  She also hopes that all of you did something good for someone else during the week, because if you did, it will come back to you.  It did for Annalena. 

Baked ziti for Annalena's galpal Debra B

Ragazzi,  along the history of this blog you have read of  Annalena's obsession with her weight, then her period of time with the "Tiny Beast," Ms. Emily, and now, her time with the Paraguayan pummeler, Sebastian.  It does work.  She urges all of you who are thinking about it, to do it:  get to a gym, and do something.  Don't think "it's not enough," because whatever it is, it is more than you would be doing sitting on the sofa.

In the course of her gym exploits, Annalena has made a group of friends, one of whom is the aforementioned Debra B.  Amici, if you could see how the lovely Ms. D. has TRANSFORMED herself with the work she has done.  Annalena is jealous.  Once, the poster child of the local gym, she has been supplanted by this upstart Ms. B.

BRAVISSIMA RAGAZZA!!!!  If there were one person to whom Annalena would gladly turn over the reigns of power, it is to you, mia fratellina. 

So, when Debra asked Annalena "how do you make a good pan of baked ziti," there was no way to act other than to post it for ALL of you to see. 

NOT for all of you to EAT.  Debra B and I are going to eat this.  For the rest of you:  As Rupaul once said  "You better WERK."

Ok, baked ziti.  First, some geeky cultural history here.  Baked ziti are Italian American.  They are NOT Italian.  The only authentic  "pasta al forno "  (baked pasta) dishes  which Annalena is aware of are lasagna and canneloni.  (NOT manicotti mind you..)  The origins of baked ziti are not clear.  One rather clever one works off of the idea that "zito," in Italian, is a bridegroom.  So, one would serve a large pan of these at a wedding supper, and since the dish is relatively easy to prepare, the bridegroom would make it.

Yet another plays off of slang which has "a box of ziti" to mean 1,000.  Serving a pan of baked ziti is to indicated wealth.

Well, whatever.  Choose your stories, but let's cook.  Ultimately, this is an easy dish if you make it correctly.  And even though you CAN substitute just about any pasta you would like for this,  somehow, ziti feel more comforting and more tasty.  In fact, Annalena is thinking she may make these herself.

Let us proceed.  We need sauce first, and what could be easier than Marcella Hazan's basic tomato?  That recipe is here, but let's review it.  Two large cans of tomatoes.  If they are whole, crush them with your hands.  If they are already broken up, pour them directly into a large pot.    Now take an onion, and from the top, make a vertical cut.  Then, make one 90 degrees to the first, but do not cut all the way through.  You want the onion to stay together if possible.  Remove the skin, put the onion in with the tomatoes and then add 1.5 sticks of unsalted butter.  Turn the heat to AS LOW AS POSSIBLE,  and let it cook for at least an hour, preferably an hour and a half.  When the liquid has reduced by about 1/4-1/3 (or even more), you are done.  Season it with salt and if you happen to have some fresh basil on hand, in it goes.

So you will have an hour and a half to do other things.  You won't need all of that time.  What you will need, is cheese.  Mozzarella is traditional and, to Annalena's taste, the best.  But you can use fontina, or smoked mozzarella, or any other melting cheese.  If you are not sure if the cheese would melt, ask your cheese monger.  And if s/he doesn't know, find another one.    We will assume you are using fiore di latte mozzarella, which is cow's milk cheese, and rather firm.  Cut the cheese (12 ounces of it), into cubes.  Put them aside, as you ponder whether to do things like add peas, or cooked sausage, or cooked ham, or anything else in the dish.  Annalena prefers it as simple as possible, but has been known to take the one left over cup of ricotta and add it to the cubed cheese, and/or to add a cup or so of green peas.  This is your call, as will be much in this recipe.

As the sauce nears the end of its time, preheat your oven to 375 and get a big pot of water boiling.  Add plenty of salt (at least a tablespoon), and pour in one pound of dried ziti.  Cover the pot part of the way to help bring the water back to a boil faster, but do NOT cover it completely.  "Pasta needs to dance" as Lidia says, and so it does.  When the water comes to a boil, stir the pasta, and do so periodically, for ten minutes.

Ten minutes is not long enough to cook the pasta completely, which is fine because... you're going to bake it.  Remember? 

Perhaps the biggest complaint that people have about baked pasta dishes is that they are too dry.  Annalena thinks this is from the use of pans that are too big.  This dish would seem to call for a 9x13 inch pan, and it will indeed fill it.  And you will get dried out pasta.  So use smaller dishes - perhaps a 9x9 and an 8x8, or two of each .   Drain the pasta, and now put enough sauce into the bottom of the baking dishes, to cover them with a thin layer.  Scoop out two cups of the sauce into a big bowl, and then toss everything into the sauce.  Stir it well to distribute it, and plop it into your pans.  Then, spoon a little more sauce over the top of each.  Cover each pan with foil, and put them in the oven for 30 minutes.

You cover the pans with foil, to facilitate the cheese melting, and the pasta cooking in the steam of the dish.  After 30 minutes, take the foil off, and notice how the melted cheese sticks a bit.  This is what you want.  Now, raise the heat to 425, and bake for another fifteen minutes.  This gives you some crunchiness.

ONLY after you've finished this, and the pans are steaming on your counter begging to be eaten, sprinkle on some parmesan or pecorino.  You do this at the end because, otherwise, the grated cheese will burn.


And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how Annalena does it.

Debra B.  je t'ame, ti amo, te amo, wo ai ni, and anything else you want.  Make it this weekend, and give someone a big, gravy splotchy kiss.